Sentencing for brutal murder

Two Zimbabweans who hacked an elderly Dutch immigrant to death on his smallholding outside Pretoria two years ago will be sentenced in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria today.

The prosecution argued that the court should sentence Clayton Maleka, 19, and Nathan Tsamwisi, 21, to life imprisonment for the gruesome October 2011 murder and robbery of Albert de Jongh, 66, on his smallholding in Wallmansthal North of Pretoria.

De Jongh’s mutilated body was found covered with grass and bushes near a gate on his property with a bloody axe nearby. He had been hacked more than seven times and had gaping wounds on his face and neck.

The court earlier rejected the accused’s claims that De Jongh had refused to pay them for work they did, attacked Tsamwisi with a “slasher” and threatened to kill them.

Maleka claimed he had “accidentally” struck De Jong on the head with an axe while defending Tswamwisi but could not explain the man’s numerous other injuries.